What are Team Neurodynamics?

Team Neurodynamics is the science of applying the measurement of neurophysiologic indicators to the modeling of teamwork and is the study of the changing rhythms and organizations of teams from the perspective of neurophysiology. As a discipline, team neurodynamics is located at the intersection of collaborative learning, psychometrics, complexity theory and neurobiology with the resulting principles and applications both drawing from and contributing to these specialties. It is well known that brain activity in individuals can be synchronized by visual or auditory streams where brain rhythms become entrained (synchronized) by the frequency of the stimulus presentation.(Will, U. and E. Berg, 2007, U. Lindenberger, Li, S-C, W. Gruber, & V. Muller, 2009)

Our study of team Neurodynamics began prior to 2008 with synchronizing the data acquired across multiple EEG systems and continued with the definition and functional description of a measure termed neurophysiologic synchronies (NS). Neurophysiologic synchronies or rhythms are the second-by-second quantitative co-expression of the same neurophysiologic / cognitive measure by different members of a team. The process was first described for three-person teams of high school students engaged in scientific problem solving (Stevens, R. H., Galloway, T., Berka, C., & Sprang, M., 2009) and was quickly applied to groups engaged in emotion recall map navigation tasks (Stevens, R., Galloway, T., Berka, C., & Behneman, A., 2010) and Submarine Piloting and Navigation (Stevens, R.H., Galloway, T., Wang, P., Berka, C., Tan, V., Wohlgemuth, T., Lamb, J.& Buckles, R., 2013).

Like most forms of social coordination, teamwork is complicated, complex, and noisy. It is complicated as teams generally form around tasks that are too difficult for individuals to accomplish alone and require a diversity of experience and expertise. It is complex in the circular causality and feedback among multiple systems and sub-systems involved. For instance, neurophysiological events give rise to speech and other forms of inter-person communications which in turn affect subsequent speech and behavior. It is also complex in the sense that behaviors emerge in teams that often could not be predicted beforehand; i.e., the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. Finally, teams are noisy in the sense that as the team develops consensus, many actions may occur that are peripheral to the immediate task.

These properties of being complicated, complex, and noisy pose challenges for evaluating teams, and at some point, seemingly simple questions like “How is this team doing?” become difficult to answer, particularly if the goal is to capture quantitative measures of team improvement over time. Part of the challenge is that unlike the performance evaluations of individuals, there are few measures and models for rapidly comparing across teams. This is particularly true with teams of diverse experience, who are performing real-world tasks where errors may be infrequent and do not directly correspond to failure (Schmidt, Keeton, Slack, Leveton, & Shea, 2009).

We have proposed that neurodynamics may provide a platform for developing quantitative models of team organization and perhaps performance (Stevens, 2012; Stevens, Galloway, Wang, & Berka, 2012). It is not surprising that neurophysiologic activities are the underpinnings of the social coordination dynamics described above, yet it is only recently that their evolving dynamics in real-world teamwork settings have begun to be modeled (Dodel et al., 2011; Dumas, Nadal, Soussignan, Martinerie & Garnero, 2010; Stephens, Silbert, & Hasson, 2010; Stevens, Galloway, Berka, & Sprang, 2009).

Looking at Submarine Piloting & Navigation Using Team Neurodynamics

These studies were conducted with navigation training tasks that are integral components of the Submarine Officer Advanced Course at the US Navy Submarine School, Groton, CT. The task is a high fidelity Submarine Piloting and Navigation (SPAN) simulation that contains dynamically programmed situation events which are crafted to serve as the foundation of the adaptive team training.

"Spirit of Innovation Award" Received by Dr. Ron Stevens

Leland S. Kollmorgen Spirit of Innovation Award was instituted in 2007 by the HFES Augmented Cognition Technical Group in honor of Leland S. Kollmorgen, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy (Ret.). The award recognizes exceptional scientists and engineers who have made substantial and innovative contributions to the field of Augmented Cognition. The recipient is someone whose extensive endeavors have pushed the frontiers of discovery, innovation, and design in Augmented Cognition transcending the boundaries of human-systems computing and is a true inspiration to the HSI field. The Leland S. Kollmorgen Spirit of Innovation Award recipient is judged not only on accomplishments in the last year, but also on a career history of efforts contributing to the advancement of the Augmented Cognition field. Other criteria for selection include: resourcefulness and dedication in promoting and accomplishing innovative human-systems computing technologies, demonstrated leadership in forming and promoting teamwork among the various disciplines represented within the Augmented Cognition field, demonstrated professionalism and integrity, and the embodiment of the spirit of innovation and collaboration.

Recent Publications

Ronald H. Stevens, Trysha L. Galloway and Ann Willemsen-Dunlap

Low Level Predictors of Team Dynamics: A Neurodynamic Approach. Team Dynamics Over Time, Vol. 18 pp.71 - 92. (2017)

Predicting Team Breakdownin Healthcare

So far a lot of interesting information has resulted from our efforts to study the brainwaves of surgical teams during simulation. Our next round of work includes
collecting the brainwave data of novice teams throughout the
learning process.

Our ultimate goal with this research is to better inform the way we structure medical education and simulation for learners. This could lead to creating more effective medical teams for all of OSF HealthCare.